Professional standards

The commissioner for information of public importance, Rodoljub Sabic, said that journalists were increasingly using their right to access information of public importance in a more successful manner, but that discrimination was obviously evident because certain media outlets were enjoying special treatment by certain political structures and publishing exclusive information that was unavailable to other media outlets.
(Beta, Politika, 27.09.2012)

Numerous journalists waiting for the outcome of the meeting of the Democratic Party leadership behind closed doors, meanwhile relying on tweets of the politicians participating in the meeting – this is an example of the increasing popularity of the Twitter social network. "The advantage of Twitter in comparison with Facebook lies in its short form and the limited number of characters – it is the fastest news channel today and it should be used for precisely such a purpose. Politicians have realized that 140-character tweets can replace press statements and questioning by journalists, especially when it comes to sensitive issues. For this reason, Twitter has become a serious competition to agency journalism", says culturologist Maja Vukadinovic.
(Politika, 30.09.2012)

Journalists with "The Insider" have discovered during several months of research that alternative roads leading from Serbia to Kosovo were transformed into smuggling channels that are still active.
(Blic, 02.10.2012)

Awards, training courses and competitions

The UNICEF Office in Serbia has announced a public contest for the annual award for ethical and professional media reporting on violence against and among children, with a special emphasis on the school violence. The deadline for submission of applications is 5 November 2012. Awards will be presented on 20 November 2012.
(MC, 28.09.2012)

The secretary of finance of the Province of Vojvodina, Zoran Radoman, is the recipient of the Award for Advancement of the Right to Free Access to Information of Public Importance and Transparency in Work.
(Dnevnik, 29.09.2012)

The exhibition of photographs "Time Travelers Obsessed With Pictures" by Goranka Matic begins today in the Gallery Artget. The artist has published its photographs in Liberation and leading magazines and newspapers in the territory of former Yugoslavia: Dzuboks, Start, Svijet, Polet, Omladinske Novine, Duga, Politika, Delo. She has worked as the editor of photography in the weekly magazine Vreme and the daily newspaper Politika, while today she is the editor of photography with Radio-Television Serbia (RTS). The exhibition will be open until 24 October.
(Tanjug, Pregled, UNS, 05.10.2012)

"Implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Serbia – Training for Journalists" will take place between 16 October and 18 October, 2012 in the Center for Business and Technology Development of Vojvodina (CePTOR) located in the municipality of Beocin. The seminar is intended for journalists who wish to participate in the process of implementation of environmental regulations in Serbia and to contribute to investigative journalism in the field of environmental protection.
(NDNV, 04.10.2012)

Autumn Radio Days will take place on 10-12 November in the Elite Palic Hotel located in Palic. The event is organized by RAB Serbia (founders: Radio 021, Radio Tri, Radio NAXI and Radio S).
(RAB Newsletter, 08.10.2012)

Media visits

Reporting of the media in Serbia and in Kosovo about the "technical negotiations" between Belgrade and Pristina is mostly protocolary. For this reason, citizens are not well informed about the dialog and implementation of its results – this is one of the conclusions of the discussion between more than 20 journalists from Serbia and Kosovo organized on 28-29 September in Pristina as a part of the project "Journalists Can Do It" of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. Journalists from Serbia visited the BIRN editorial team in Pristina on 28 September and talked to its executive director, Jeta Xharra, and the director of news of TV Kohavision, Adriatik Kelmendi. They also met with the editor of the programme for minorities of Radio-Television Kosovo, Rabisha Muhaxhiri, as well as with the editor-in-chief of the magazine and portal Kosovo 2.0, Besa Luci. Journalists from Kosovo will visit Belgrad in October as guests of the Youth Initiative.
(Youth Initiative, NUNS, 02.10.2012)

The media audience

The independent daily newspaper Informer has achieved the fastest growth of sales in Serbia, shows the latest data from ABC Audit, the authorized agency for auditing of the print media. The number of sold copies of Informer jumped from 26,530 in May to 63,934 in August of this year. According to the report, the daily newspaper with the largest circulation in Serbia is Vecernje Novosti with 119,225 sold copies in August. When it comes to magazines, the first two positions are still held by culinary magazines Posalji Recept ("Send a Recipe") with 233,991 sold copies and Torte i Kolaci ("Cakes and Cookies") with 166,845 sold copies per issue. The largest increase of sales among magazines was achieved by Skandal, which sold 112,161 copies in August – three times more than in February.
(Informer, UNS, 05.10.2012)

Radio B92 holds the second position among radio stations with the largest number of listeners in Serbia and the third position in the city of Belgrade, shows the latest research of ratings of radio stations in the country. Radio B92 launched its new autumn programme schedule on 3 September and only four weeks later the results are already visible. The station has achieved the best position in two years and for the first time since 2010 has more listeners than Radio Belgrade 1. The station expects further growth in the following months.
(RTV B92, NUNS, 11.10.2012)

Media transfers

Misa Brkic is the new editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Press. The new editor has 36 years of professional experience in journalism, especially in reporting on economic processes and the transition in former Yugoslavia, Serbia and the South East Europe region. He has worked as an editor or journalist for daily newspapers and magazines Vecernje Novosti, Borba, Glas Javnosti, Vreme, Ekonomist, Politika and Novi Magazin; as the editor-in-chif of Nasa Borba; and as the correspondent of the Voice of America from Belgrade.
(Beta, NDNV, Press, E-kapija, UNS, 09.10.2012)

As of today, Miodrag Misa Stojanovic, a longtime journalist and editor in the company Novosti, is the new editor-in-chief of the magazine Sport. He has received the "Zlatno Pero" ("Golden Quill") Award and the Award for Exclusive News given by the Association of Sport Journalists of Belgrade, as well as the annual award of Novosti for his journalistic and editorial work.
(Vecernje Novosti, UNS, 10.10.2012)

Anniversaries

The 300th issue of the special supplement Sandzak Danas, which is published each Friday in the daily newspaper Danas, appeared today. For more than six years, correspondents from seven cities – Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Nova Varos, Prijepolje, Priboja, Pljevlje and Bijelo Polje – and numerous contributors have authored numerous articles and color photographs dedicated to the most topical issues in their local communities. (Danas, 28.09.2012)

The weekly magazine Nas Glas celebrated its 3000th issue on Wednesday. The newspaper from Smederevo has been appearing on newsstands without interruption since 12 March 1953, continuing a tradition that began in 1875, when the first issue of the magazine Narodna Volja was published.
(Blic – Serbia, 27.09.2012)

In Memoriam

Srdjan Radulovic passed away yesterday at the age of 55 after a long and difficult illness. He was born in 1957 and graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade. He worked as a journalist and editor in several daily and weekly newspapers – Slobodna Dalmacija, Borba, NIN, Demokratija, Evropa, Blic... After working as the deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Blic, he became the editor-in-chief of NIN.
(Blic, E-novine, UNS, NUNS, 29.09.2012, Alo!, Kurir, Politika, 30.09.2012, Alo!, 24 sata, Danas, Blic, Informer, Politika, 01.10.2012, Blic, Alo!, Danas, 02.10.2012, Danas, 03.10.2012)